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Thin PC

How does a Thin PC work?

We have recently started recycling old PC's as Thin PC - using Windows 7 Embedded. So basically using them as terminal to a remote desktop server. Gives old machines a new lease of life for no cost (assuming you have a EES agreement with MS). The trick is to get the Thin PC to go straight to the rdp to the server you want. So key steps if you are interested are:

  • Put the Thin-PC in a OU where there is a group policy that auto logs on a standard user.
  • Change the shell from explorer to %windir%\system32\mstsc.exe
  • I have one script that calls a vbs script that runs the rdp session and loops to re-run it on exit or if the user tries to close the session. Key thing is to run the scripts silently so the user cannot close them.
  • Lock Crtl-Alt-Del down with gpo so user just gets Cancel as the only option. 

Anyone wants to know more - let me know.
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